Budapest 2013

Patrick Bade is Senior Lecturer at Christies Education in London. He has published extensively on 19 and early 20 century art. His new book entitled “Music Wars” about music during the Second World War will by published by East and West Books in the Spring of 2012.

Mark Beale is a former Metropolitan Police officer who headed the crime reduction unit for the serious and organised crime department at Scotland Yard. Working closely with the Flying Squad, Mark was responsible for working with the Cash and Valuables in Transit industry to reduce crime targeting this sector.

Mark also worked with jewellers and museums in relation to protection of goods at premises and in transit. In 2010 he moved to Budapest and established Beale Security Consultancy Ltd. He maintains contracts with UK based businesses in addition to assisting the CVIT industry in Hungary.

David Beardsworth achieved a successful police career including service in Essex Police and Metropolitan Police forces before transferring to Scotland Yard. In 1989 he left to establish a specialist insurance investigations firm, Vincent Sherman Associates, which gained a reputation for modern thinking and cutting edge approaches. This focus on insurance expertise and keeping ahead of the curve continues today at Absolute Partnership, which he co-founded in 2004.

Absolute provides claims and document validation services for a wide variety of insurers and coverholders encompassing personal property & casualty claims through to major commercial cases and complex insurance fraud. David is also a consultant for City of London Police and Interpol.

Marc Johnson with over 23 years of experience, joined HSNO in October 1996 for a second term of employement, returning as manager of the NY office. He later made partner of the firm on March 1998.

He specializes in the evaluation of damages. He has handled a wide range of files related to property damage or theft inclusive of; but, not limited to business interruption, out-of-site and in-site inventory losses including Jeweler’s Block and employee malfeasancee.

Christopher A. Marinello is one of the world’s foremost experts in recovering stolen, looted, and missing works of art. A lawyer for over 27 years, Chris began his legal career as a litigator and became uniquely proficient in negotiating complex title disputes between collectors, dealers, museums and insurance companies. Chris has recovered stolen and looted artwork valued at over $300M and has worked on some of the most important recoveries of Holocaust looted art.

Chris is a frequent speaker at international conferences on the subject of stolen and looted works of art and has lectured on due diligence in the art market at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Masters Degree Program and Christie’s Art Business Program. His work is widely heralded in the world press as he has assisted law enforcement, museums and governments in recovering important pieces of cultural heritage. Chris’ art recovery and mediation successes have been featured on CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and other international networks.

Pascal Matthey is a Senior Marine Risk Engineer. Before joining XL Group, he worked as an insurance and risk manager for an international industrial group. He has extensive marine (cargo and specie) insurance experience, having held various positions on both the broker and insurer sides of the business.

After completing business studies and receiving logistic security training in the army, Pascal was awarded a Swiss superior insurance diploma in 1991 and holds a postgraduate diploma in enterprise risk management. He is a fellow of the Insurance Institute of America, a member of the American Society for Industrial Security and a certified Physical Security Professional. He is active in the Transported Asset Protection Association.

Thomas Prevas is President of General Security Consultants, Inc. (GSC). Located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to starting GSC, Inc., Mr Previs was a Senior Consultant with ITT Hartford, where he was involved with the development and admisistration of the Corporate Security Program across the US and Canada, providing underwriting management with risk evaluation and risk improvement services for commercial accounts with complex security exposures, and consulting on losses, claims investigations and staff training.

Katherine Proctor joined Ince & Co (now Clyde & Co) as a trainee solicitor in 2003 and qualified in 2005. Her practice focuses on general commercial dispute resolution and insurance and reinsurance dispute resolution (Litigation, arbitration, ADR) in the London and International markets

Dan Ribacoff is a Licensed Private Investigator and a Certified Polygraph Examiner. As the CEO of International Investigative Group, Ltd., Dan has served Underwriters, Adjusters and Attorneys for over 22 years with Jewelers Block, Fine Arts and other Specie investigations though-out the US and the World. Dan’s unique background as a Graduate Gemmologist and many years of law enforcement patrol experience as a member of the NYPD Auxiliary Police have resulted in his being named as “One of the Top 15 Private Investigators in the United States.”

Dan and his firm have been featured on CNN, CNBC, Globo-TV, New York Times, New York Law Journal and many more. He is a skilled Forensic Interviewer and Credibility Assessment professional. He trains attorneys on how to detect deception during depositions and in Continuing Legal Education courses on investigations. He serves as the polygraph examiner for an internationally syndicated TV show.

Arnold Schwisberg is a lawyer who specializes in sophisticated commercial litigation. Including judicial review s of jurisdictional excesses of regulatory agencies and tribunals. He has appeared at all levels of the Ontario Courts, at the Federal Court’s Trial and Appeal Divisions and in the Supreme Court of Canada.

In particular, he is Canada’s top liquor-regulatory lawyer and its pre-eminent jewellery, fine art, cash-in-transit and specie insurance defence litigator.

Gideon Statman took over the loss adjusting office of his late father, Harry Statman LL.B, who established the firm in 1973. The company has thus had nearly 40 years of experience.

His office specializes in Jewellers block both diamonds and jewellery , diamond processing cover, CIT and fine art. Over the years the office has become involved in world-wide activities, serving a number of overseas clients carrying out surveys and handling claims in most parts of the world.

Dorit Straus iDorit Straus has been an important contributor to the fine art insurance industry for over 30 years in her capacity as an underwriter, manager and as an innovator in creating insurance solutions for the art community.

She joined the Chubb Group of Insurance companies as an underwriter trainee and quickly assumed management and underwriting and developed expertise in Excess and Surplus Lines, contingency coverage including cancellation of events and prize indemnification, Inland and Ocean marine, Property and Liability and entertainment.

Dorit sits on the board of the International Foundation of Art Research, on the art and records committee of the IMUA ( Inland Marine Underwriters Association ) and various other non for profit organizations.

Cedric van den Abeele having taken a bachelor’s degree in commercial engineering (Brussels University-ULB) and a post-graduate in SME management (ICHEC-Entreprises, Brussels). Cedric originally joined Anglo Belge, 1993. After a brief spell in the telecom and publishing industry he returned to Anglo Belge in 2008. In 2011 Cedric took over as Managing Director

Victor Wiener served as executive director of the Appraisers Association of America for 21 years and is currently an appraiser in private practice and founder of the firm Victor Wiener Associates, LLC

He has worked for several international auction houses in London and New York, including Sotheby’s and at Christie’s in Rome, where he was Director of the fine arts department. A trained art historian, Mr. Wiener has worked at several museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has published extensively and is co-editor and a principal contributor to “All About Appraising”, The Definitive Appraisers Handbook.